Tag: streetwise interviews

George Soros Making Big Bets on Gold

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George Soros has joined fellow billionaire investors Stan Druckenmiller and Ray Dalios on investing big in gold. Precious metals expert Michael Ballanger explains what is behind these moves.

This week George Soros once again came out with his very large directional "bets" for the SP 500 and for gold and, needless to say, Mr. Soros is once again shorting the SP and buying gold and gold miners, joining Ray Dalio, Stanley Druckenmiller and Michael Ballanger (just kidding) in a decidedly unpopular stance. Carl Icahn came out in agreement during a CNBC interview this week that left the interviewer near-speechless and groveling in the mud of anti-Wall Street rhetoric.

In the meantime, some of the smartest investors I know are SOOOO bullish on gold that they are buying huge baskets of penny explorers under a nickel because of the leverage contained when the public finally decides to re-allocate to include gold (and mining stocks). A fund manager I know said to me, "Must be the top!" in reference to this, but it really can't be the top after a five-month rally representing the largest recorded quarterly advance in mining shares since recordkeeping began.

Look at the chart above and think what would happen if we were to get a shift from bonds to gold; 49% of global asset allocations reside in bonds while 1% reside in gold. Now, consider these two facts: Continue reading "George Soros Making Big Bets on Gold" →

The Numbers Add Up to Vindication for a Cautious Gold Bull...

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Precious metals expert Michael Ballanger discusses the importance of caution and timing in gold investment.

Back in early March, with the HUI screaming along north of 150, I published "Patiently Climbing Aboard the New Golden Bull," in which I opined that we had entered a brand-spanking-new bull market in precious metals and related equities. But I also noted that, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) above 85 on the daily SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) and approaching 80 on the daily NYSE.Arca Gold BUGS Index (HUI), the short-term outlook was less than appealing, while the intermediate and long-term outlook was unequivocally bullish for the first time in five long years. Continue reading "The Numbers Add Up to Vindication for a Cautious Gold Bull..." →

Oil Climbs over $50: Can Investors Bank on a Recovery?

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The price of a barrel of oil has almost doubled from its low of $28 at the start of the year, prompting speculation that a recovery is underway, which may result in the revival of companies in the exploration, production and services sectors that have foundered since prices collapsed in 2015.

Oil Supply Graph

According to news reports published today (Thursday, May 26), the pop above $50/bbl can be attributed to a drop in supply. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's "Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending May 20, 2016" notes that "U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 4.2 million barrels from the previous week."

Since breaking the mark the price has sunk below the $50 level, but hovers in the vicinity, as it has for the past few weeks. Continue reading "Oil Climbs over $50: Can Investors Bank on a Recovery?" →

Two Overlooked Streaming Stocks with Huge Upside Potential

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Streaming/royalty stocks have been darlings of the commodity investment world. In the precious metals sector, this type of company provides financing for mining companies in the form of an upfront cash payment in exchange for a percentage of production or revenues from the mine. Jason Hamlin of Gold Stock Bull profiles two streamers often overlooked by investors.

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The main difference between a streaming company and royalty company is that a royalty is cash paid as a percentage of revenue, while a stream involves the actual delivery of physical metal to the holder of the streaming agreement. The finance model has also been called a volumetric production payment transaction and originated in the oil and gas sector.

Advantages of the Streaming/Royalty Model

There are considerable advantages of a streaming/royalty business model including: Continue reading "Two Overlooked Streaming Stocks with Huge Upside Potential" →

Two Companies Poised To Catch Up To Gold Peer Group

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After a mad dash to the upside for gold and a similar dash to the downside for the U.S. dollar, investors are getting their bearings once again. April's disappointing jobs report refocused everyone on the potential economic slowdown and a still-dovish Fed. Brien Lundin of Gold Newsletter paints the big picture of how speculation over the Fed's actions to raise interest rates is affecting gold and gold equities, and he discusses two companies that have not appreciated as much as their peers but are likely to soon catch up.

Pershing Gold's Resource Base

Gold and gold stocks have maintained their gains since early May. And it's largely due to a significant downside miss in the nonfarm payrolls report for April: Against consensus expectations of 205,000 jobs created in the month, April's number came in at just 160,000 jobs. It wasn't quite as bad as the headline number may indicate: Average hourly earnings rose by 8 cents (0.3%), while the average work week added 0.1 hour.

"Gold and gold stocks have maintained their gains since early May."

Still, in an interview recently on CNBC, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart volunteered a 200,000-job benchmark as a level that would be conducive to further Fed rate hikes. The miss on jobs, combined with dismal, 0.5% GDP growth for the first quarter, should put a stake in the heart of hopes for a rate hike at the Fed's mid-June meeting. Continue reading "Two Companies Poised To Catch Up To Gold Peer Group" →